How they got here: UCLA squeaked in with the fifth-to-last at-large bid after finishing fourth in the Pac-12 Conference regular season and losing a close game to Arizona in a conference tournament semifinal. SMU won the American Athletic Conference regular season and conference tournament.

Best wins/worst losses: UCLA defeated Utah, 69-59, and Oregon, 72-63, both at home. The Bruins lost, 83-44, to Kentucky in December, and also lost, 56-50, at Alabama, 62-56 at Colorado and 68-66 at Arizona State. Judging by the Ranking Percentage Index, SMU's best wins were over Tulsa, twice, and Temple, three times. The only non-NCAA tournament team SMU lost to was Connecticut.

Few outside UCLA’s locker room believed the Bruins would earn an NCAA tournament bid when selections were made on Sunday. The major tournament projections all had the Bruins on the outside of the field. Most pundits agreed.

Sunday, the team said, would be nerve-wracking. But, UCLA Coach Steve Alford...

Few outside UCLA’s locker room believed the Bruins would earn an NCAA tournament bid when selections were made on Sunday. The major tournament projections all had the Bruins on the outside of the field. Most pundits agreed.

Sunday, the team said, would be nerve-wracking. But, UCLA Coach Steve Alford...

It remains to be seen, over the next three weekends, whether this is essentially a one-team race to history.

Kentucky continued beating its torrid path on Sunday when it improved...

The race to the Final Four in Indianapolis officially began with Sunday’s release of the 68-team NCAA tournament bracket.

It remains to be seen, over the next three weekends, whether this is essentially a one-team race to history.

Kentucky continued beating its torrid path on Sunday when it improved...

(Chris Dufresne)

It's a fact: These teams have played only twice — UCLA won both games — but they share a common coach. Current SMU Coach Larry Brown was the coach at UCLA from 1979 until 1981, when he left to coach the NBA's New Jersey Nets. Brown led UCLA to the national championship game in 1980, when it lost to Louisville. UCLA was forced to vacate the appearance when the NCAA ruled two players ineligible because they received impermissible benefits.